You asked, Capello answered – Part I

Former Italy midfielder and England manager Fabio Capello sat down with UEFA.com to answer a selection of the hundreds of questions that came in via Twitter. In the first of our two-part series, the ex-AC Milan, Real Madrid CF, AS Roma and Juventus coach shares his thoughts on who has impressed him so far at UEFA EURO 2012, what makes Italy tick under Cesare Prandelli and Spain's surprising opening-game formation.

To watch the full interview click the video box above.

@Ricky_Whiting: Which player has impressed you the most so far at EURO 2012 and why?

Fabio Capello: Among the youngsters I especially like [Alan] Dzagoev from the Russia team, not only because he has scored three important goals for his team but he has also shown great character. He scored an important goal in their last game and even had a chance to score a second one. He is a real talent in this rather old Russian team.

The other player who has impressed me is an Italian player, who is the opposite of the Russian lad because he is 34. It's [Antonio] Di Natale, who played for 20 or 30 minutes [against Spain] but scored the goal and had a chance to score a second one. These are the type of players who, luckily for the coach, can be brought off the bench and are directly involved in the game. These are dangerous players.

@KikoManutd27: How has the Italy under Marcello Lippi changed to the Italy under Cesare Prandelli?

Capello: Marcello Lippi had built a great spirit in the team. It was a very compact and determined team and the foundation of that team was the defence. This Italian team now has changed their style of play. It's a team that focuses on the midfield, pressing through the midfield and this could be seen in the game against Spain. We shouldn't forget that Marcello Lippi managed to achieve something extraordinary by winning the World Cup with a team which, on paper, wasn't really the strongest, so hats off to him for what he managed to achieve.

@goralpatel: Who do you believe will be Italy's star player during UEFA EURO 2012?

Capello: The player who has made the difference is [Andrea] Pirlo. Pirlo makes the difference but I have to say that the real surprise has been the quality and the confidence with which the Italy midfielders have been playing. Largely [Thiago] Motta and [Claudio] Marchisio but more so Pirlo because he is the player who has a lot of the ball and every time he starts a move it's a move which will be dangerous for the opposition.

‏@inigorv: Where do you stand on the debate about Spain not starting with a recognised striker against Italy?

Capello: When we saw Spain's lineup we were all a bit surprised. Spain have players who can all play up front and score. [Cesc] Fàbregas is not a central striker, but a supporting striker like the role he played at Arsenal. He can play that role very well. He was actually the one who scored the goal and created a second-half chance, which Buffon did really well to save, before he scored.

Then we saw [Fernando] Torres come on and create two dangerous chances. Torres is a player who can drop deep to create space so he is extremely dangerous. I have to say that [Gianluigi] Buffon made a great save and put Torres under pressure when he attempted a lob which went over the bar.